Mauritio
Member
- Joined
- Feb 26, 2018
- Messages
- 5,669
Interesting!The nanomolar concentrations are what is endogenously present. When administering several milligrams (or more) exogenously micromolar concentrations are likley to be achieved. In fact, the antidepressant effect of the FDA-approved Brexanolone is likely (partially) due to stimulating thyroid synthesis and metabolism. The GABA agonism alone is not enough to explain the antidepressant effect as pure GABA agonists such as the benzodiazepine class of drugs do not have antidepressant effects but only antianxiety ones. The increase in dopamine mentioned in a previous comment and antagonism of serotonin (below) are probably also involved in the overall antidepressant effects.
Progesterone, Testosterone, Allopregnanolone Are Serotonin Antagonists
This study shows that some of the gonadal steroids act in a manner similar to the drug ondansetron - i.e. antagonize the 5-HT3 "receptor". While pregnenolone sulfate was not antagonistic to 5-HT3, taking pregnenolone metabolizes mostly into progesterone and allopregnanolone. So, it seems like a...raypeatforum.com
Btw there's also a great newsletter by peat on postpartum depression ! It's the may 2019 issue.